CBSE to Offer Four New Vocational Subjects from Next Year.

New Delhi, Nov 03 : Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), New Delhi, is likely to launch four new vocational subjects from next year, i.e. 2012. The Board has taken the step to boost vocational education and make it more scientific and market oriented.

As per sources, the subjects to be taught from class XI onwards are logistics management, retail management, paramedic, and design. All these subjects/courses will be modular and credit based. Moreover, the certificates which will be awarded would also indicate the specific skill sets that the students acquire.

According to CBSE, these new courses will be based on the number of hours and divided over specific modules with each module carrying specific credits. In addition, each module will offer a specific skill set so that even if out of seven modules a student completes four, he/she will have credits for those modules and would have acquired certain skill sets.

While talking about the developments, CBSE Chairman, Vineet Joshi, said that the basic idea behind drafting the courses credit based is to make them scientific. The number of hours for the vocational courses can be credited which would help in case a student wants to shift to another course, he said.

Furthermore, he said that the new courses will be based on the standards set by the National Skill Development Corporation which is now working on national occupational standards in various areas, which means that it specifies on jobs and the necessary corresponding skill sets required.

Later, he also added that the credits will help the students if they opt for higher studies to institutions where credit system is accepted and equivalent credits can be measured. In addition, sources from the Ministry for Human Resource Development informed that CBSE will also launch a vocational course in IT from class IX as a pilot project in Haryana from 2012.